The Second Amendment guarantees, “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”

However, according to the Senate website, “Whether this provision protects the individual’s right to own firearms or whether it deals only with the collective right of the people to arm and maintain a militia has long been debated.”

The “explanation” makes no mention of a 2008 Supreme Court ruling (District of Columbia v. Heller), which affirmed that the Second Amendment protects the individual right to own guns.

The Senate website reads like a signing statement for the entire Constitution. Every single section and right is ‘explained’ and in some cases re-interpreted.

Screenshot from the Senate.gov website.

As Ali Papademetriou highlights, schools are also erroneously using the Senate’s interpretation of the Second Amendment to suggest that the right for Americans to own firearms is restricted to state militias.

American History students at Denton Guyer High School in Texas are being taught that, “The people have a right to keep and bear arms in a state militia,” under the Second Amendment, implying that there is no individual right to own guns.

The First Amendment is also summarized as meaning only that, “Congress may not favor one religion over another.”

Many Americans would be concerned to realize that the very body concerned with upholding and protecting their rights under the mandate of the Constitution – the U.S. Senate – refuses to fully acknowledge the fundamental right to keep and bear arms under the Second Amendment.